


Hold Me Down

by Multishipperlove



Category: Critical Role (Web Series) RPF
Genre: Collars, F/F, F/M, Non-Sexual Kink, Puppy Play, lots of cuddling and touching, semi-public play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 18:17:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multishipperlove/pseuds/Multishipperlove
Summary: Marisha and Matt want to try something new, even if Matt's nerves almost get the best of him. A private play party seems like just the right thing for them.





	Hold Me Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CowRole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CowRole/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Be A Good Boy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18939340) by [CowRole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CowRole/pseuds/CowRole). 



> Maybe not quite what you requested but I couldn't get this idea out of my head, so I wanted to write that first :D  
> Also, I just want to say now that I've never participated in pet play or been to a pet play party, so I am pulling all of this out of my ass. I hope no one is offended.  
> Also, this isn't beta read or really edited.

Matt is clearly nervous as they get in the car, and if they hadn't been talking about this for over a month, Marisha thinks she might actually feel bad for him. But as it is, she just reaches over to stop him from fiddling with his puppy ears until they break.

“Babe, stop it,” she mutters, keeping her eyes on the road as she pulls out of their drive way. “The drive takes a while, just try to calm down.”

Matt nodds and finally puts the ears back into his backpack. His collar is in there as well, along with some other things they often use for their play. He knows it's all just in case, only if he's really comfortable there, but somehow it still makes his heart beat faster. He takes his wife's advice, closes his eyes for a while and takes some deep breaths.

Marisha, seeing her husband slowly relax as he obeys the order, smiles slightly to herself and starts the car radio.

They don't talk much, but the closer they get to their destination, the more Matt starts to wriggle around in his seat.

Finally the car is parked, not too far from their destinantion. A Puppy Play meet up. Marisha stops Matt from getting out of the car, wanting to go over the rules again for this evening. It's their first time potentially playing with strangers, and she understands why he's not a hundred percent excited about it. But so far he hadn't tapped out, and he'd assured her several times that he wanted to go through with this even though it made him nervous.

“Alright, talk to me. What's expected of you tonight?” she starts, lowering the volume of the radio again to help him concentrate.

Matt chews on his lip for a moment but eventually answers. “I'm expected to be on my best behaviour, do what I'm told and stay down while we're there.”

“Right, what else?” she asks, prodding him further along.

“Nothing,” he replies, exhaling softly as some of the tension bleeds away. “We're just here to try it out, no expectations.”

The answer gets him another smile and a gentle pat on the cheek, which he gladly leans into. “Exactly. There's nothing sexual going in in the front rooms anyway, so no worries about that, and I don't expect you to interact with anyone yet. I want a happy and calm puppy today, nothing else.”

She spends a few more seconds running her hands through his hair, tugging slightly at the end to get his attention again. “Ready to go?”

He nods, and they finally get out of the car. Matt keeps the backpack close and his hand in Marisha's as they walk up to the building, and once they get there it's less intimidating than he expected. Not that he really knew what to expect in the first place, but somehow seeing the normal-looking building just helps to soothe him further. It seems like a night club, but it's still relatively early in the evening and if he didn't know why he was here, he would have thought it to be closed.

After ringing the bell at a side entrance they wait a moment, but soon enough there's a buzzing sound and they make their way inside. First thing they get to is a small locker room, Matt supposed it's usually for staff members. A lot of the lockers already seem taken, judging by the locks that hang from the doors.

After another moment of waiting, the second door to the room opens, which seems to lead to the club's main floor, and another man joins them. He smiles warmly and reaches out to shake both of their hands. “Hey, you must be the new guys. It's nice to meet you!”

Matt returns a tight smile while Marisha happily takes the offer to talk. “Yes, we are! I send a mail in advance, thanks for letting us come here tonight.”

While the two of them hold some small talk, Matt zones out. He knows she will tell him anything important later, even if she won't like that he wasn't listening. But he can afford to get in trouble for that, right now he's more concerned about mentally prearing himself for the next hour or two.

As expected, the two are done talking soon and the man leaves them alone again. Matt doesn't really notice until Marisha taps his shoulder. “Babe, you heard that?” she asks, already giving him a disapproving look. He shakes his head, very sheepishly, and tucks a strand of hair behind his ears. “No, sorry.”

Instead of answering directly, Marisha pushes him down on one of the benches and takes the backpack out of his hands. “Well, he told us to get ready, take as much time as we need, and then we can just go and join the others. So that's what we'll do.”

She doesn't wait for an answer, instead she just starts taking things out. “We already agreed you'd be wearing your collar and the ears. You'll also have to stay on your leash, unless you join the play pen. Understand?”

He nods once. Again, he can feel the tension bleeding away now. Marisha's taken control, and he's only to happy about it. Also, the leash is more for his comfort this time than anyone else's, even if it seems to be a rule at the club.

She keeps talking, already securing the collar around his throat. The ears are next. “Now, do you want to stay fully clothed?” The questions are simple and meant to be answered non-verbally, so he just nods again and waits for her to finish.

When she leans away from him and makes the motion for down, he happily kneels at her feet. “Good boy,” she mutters, petting his hair and then locking their stuff away as he waits. “Great, I think we're good to go then. Heel, Matt.”

Matt, for his part, is a lot calmer now and follows right behind her, on his hands and knees. The collar rests reassuringly against his throat and Marisha is close enough that he can tap out or ask for the permission to speak at any time.

As they walk into the main floor, some of his nerves return. At this point it feels like his anxiety is just constantly turning on and off, and it's starting to get exhausting, so he just stays as close to her as he can and tries to ignore anyone else for now.

The man who'd greeted them is there again. Marisha tells him to sit and fondly ruffles his hair when he obeys without hesitation, before focusing back on her conversation. He hears some of it, but is mostly lost in the blissfull attention that her hand is still paying to his hair. He's only startled out of his stupor when she stops and nudges his shoulder instead, calling his name. “Matt, you haven't introduced yourself yet. Say hello to Derek.”

Derek, which is apparently the man's name, leans forward slightly and reaches a hand out again, this time to pet him. Matt, hesitates for a second but then returns in kind, getting on all fours again to walk a bit closer and press his head into Derek's hand. The man's hand is warm and soft, and despite the fact that it's new and a bit strange, it also feels nice. It reminds him a bit of Travis' hands, but those are usually more forceful.

Marisha watches the two of them, incredibly proud of her husband at that moment. She hadn't expected him to go down that easily, or react that way to a player they didn't know yet. But he's perfectly polite, even makes Derek coo a bit, and when he leans back on his heels again she can clearly see that the tips of his ears are bright red. Grinning to herself for a moment she thanks Derek once more and then tells Matt to heel again. She leads him through a small area past the play pen, where some “puppys” are already excitedly playing with each other, their caretakers mostly watching from the sidelines and talking to each other, before reaching a place where she can comfortably sit down for a while. They have a good view from their spot, or at least she does, Matt seems too occupied with trying to disappear into her leg with how tightly he's pressing up against her.

She lets him settle down and goes back to playing with his hair while she looks around, not paying him too much mind for the moment. There are maybe about 15 to 20 other people around them, and she'd honestly expected less. The puppy's who're not currently in the play pen are all leashed, and she can't see phones anywhere, so at least the people seem to take the rules seriously. That's a relief.

Matt whines beside her, quietly, no doubt a bit overwhelmed with how many people there are. But he quiets down easy enough with a stern look. “No whining.” It's something they've worked on recently, no noises without permission. And he hasn't been given permission, nor has he asked for it. “I have no problem with taking you to one of the private rooms and disciplining you there,” she threatens, which gives her the saddest puppy dog eyes in existence but also the desired result. He's quiet. To make sure he knows he's not in any serious trouble yet she quickly appeases him with a scratch behind the ears. “There you go, good puppy,” she croons, causing him to hide his face in her leg in embarrassment again.

They just sit there for a while after that, as she tries to get him to relax in the new environment. It's rather successful until another pair joins them, two young woman. Instead of a collar, one of them is wearing a black leather harness, neatly slung around her breasts, which are covered by a fine white lace shirt. More lingerie than anything else. As every other puppy, she's wearing a leash as well, which ends right in the other woman's hand. But even with that she seems a lot more forceful, a lot more excited, as she all but storms at Matt.

If he was any smaller, Marisha is sure that he would have disappeared under her chair, but as it is she just tries to keep him calm with both hands and is glad to see the other woman adjust her grip on the leash and pull her pup back a few inches. “Sorry, she gets easily excited with new people,” she tells them sheepishly before yaking on the leash one more time and telling her charge to sit. The puppy obeys, if reluctantly.

“We noticed some new faces and I thought I'd come over and say hi,” the woman says, finally turning back to Marisha. “You've been sitting back here for almost half an hour now, is everything alright?”

As the two start to talk, Matt is more or less left alone with the excitable puppy that nearly ran him over just a moment ago. The last twenty minutes had been nice, just sitting here with Marisha as he still tried to drown out most of the rest, but now he'd lost her attention and was instead faced with someone new, someone who seemed a lot more comfortable with this at the moment than he was.

The girl gives him a bright smile, before making a yipping sound and inching closer. As she moves forward, Matt tries to move back, but he's already backed into Marisha's chair as much as he can, so there's not really a way for him to escape. Finally seeing how umcomfortable he looks the girl finally leaves him some space, instead laying down. But she quickly grows bored with that, and after a moment or two she starts swiping at his hands, apparently trying to get him to play.

Not having expected that movement and slightly startled by it, Matt growls at her. There's no real time for any reaction on her part as he feels a sharp tug on his collar, and before he knows it he's looking at Marisha, his hair gripped tightly in her hand. “Bad dog! You do not growl at others, especially not after you've already been told to stay quiet,” she reprimands him.

Despite the fact that he's probably only getting himself in deeper at this point he whines softly and paws at her thigh, trying earn at least some sympathy. All he gets is another scolding. “No, quiet! You know better, Matthew. Do I need to go through with what I told you earlier?”

His eyes go wide and he quickly shakes his head, managing to stay quiet this time. She lets go, and he quickly cuddles back up to her. As much as he can, anyway. Above him, the other caretaker is apologizing now, giving her own puppy some disapproving looks as she does so and then offering Marisha her number. Just in case they want to meet up outside of the club one day.

She accepts, apparently happy about the transaction. The other two leave, and finally Marisha's attention, and especially her hands, are back on him, rubbing soothign circles on his back and gently tugging on the collar to remind him of the comforting weight.

They stay like that for a while, Matt's head in her lap, and when she sees that he's not relaxing again she sighs softly and leans down to talk to him, quietly. “Alright, I don't think this is doing much for you right now. I'll give you a choice here though. You can either go and join the play pen, or we're going home. One tap for play pen, two for home.”

Despite the fact that she doesn't sound disappointed, Matt's heart sinks a bit in his chest. He's suddenly afraid that he's ruined this, and despite the fact that he actually kinda wants to, he can't get himself to just go and join the others in the play area. He stays still for a long moment, until Marisha gently lays a hand around his throat and squeezes once. “I need an answer, Matthew.”

Finally, he gives in and taps. Twice Maybe going home is a good idea, they've been here for a while. His knees are starting to hurt anyway. But he can't shake the feeling of having disappointed her, even when she gives him a reassuring smile and starts to lead him back to the locker room. She says good bye to Derek on the way out, thanks him again for being invited and assures him that they'll think about coming back. Once again, Matt isn't really listening, too lost in his own head.

Back in the locker room, the leash is the first thing to go. Then the ears, as she tells him to get up and stretch a bit. The collar's staying on for now, and he doesn't protest. He expects them to leave immediately, but instead she pushes him down on one of the benches again, keeping up the soothing touching. “You alright, babe?” she asked softly, before pressing a kiss to his forehead. “How's my boy feeling?”

His reply is nothing more than a soft huming sound at first, but he tries to concentrate, push past the fog in his head and really examine how he's feeling. “Heavy,” he finally replies. “Tired. Can I just sleep on the way back?”

Marisha feels like he's avoided her question a bit but nods anyway. They can talk when they're home, she decides. “Sure. I got everyting, let's go then.”

The drive home is quiet, the music only playing quietly in the background and Matt dozing in the passenger seat, his hand still wrapped around the tag on his collar.

Instead of going straight back home she makes a small detour first, getting some take out for them. She's tired as well, and not having to cook after spending some time in a scene is nice.

Once they're at their house she starts calling the shots again, not letting Matt get in a word before sending him upstairs to their bedroom, telling him she'll be right behind with the food. She can sense that he's back to being nervous, even after his nap, and maybe letting him stew in it for a few minutes will make him more likely to talk.

For Matt, it seems to be working. He's very convinced that he's in trouble now, and that he won't finish this day without getting his ass beat. For what exactly he's not sure, if it's going to be because he growled at the girl earlier or because, maybe, Marisha thinks he hadn't made enough of an effort today.

She hadn't told him to sit, or kneel, or anything, really, so he'd just settled down in their bed. But when he hears her coming up the stairs he sits up a bit straighter, folding his hands in his lap and finally stopping to tug on his collar.

As Marisha comes in she places their food down on the bed first before turning her attention to him, praising him for doing as he's been told again. “See, you can listen just fine,” she chuckles, before sitting down cross legged on the bed and handing him his plate. “And you can relax now, I just want to talk about how today went and if we want to repeat that experiment or not,” she tells him softly, watching as he starts to pick at his food.

Judging from the look she's giving him, he realizes he's expected to go first. He shrugs. “I don't know... how do you think the evening went?” He's fishing for clues now, doesn't want to ask outright if he messed up or not.

She thinks about her answer for a moment. “I think it went rather well. I have to say, you were almost perfectly behaved today, I am very proud of you.” Praise always gets him, she knows that, and she's trying to take advantadge of it now. Sure, the cane will get him to behave, too. But even though she can be very strict with him, she prefers to get him to behave through positive re-inforcement. “For example,” she continues, seeing that he seems to doubt her statement, “I didn't expect you to be comfortable enough to let Derek pet you. That was very nice. I know you tried really hard today.”

He gets an uncomfortabel look on his face at that and sets his plate down. She's glad, it probably means he's ready to talk about whatever it is that's bothering him.

“I did, but... we both know that didn't last very long,” he mutters, speaking more to the blankets than to her. A quick tap to his chin fixes that. “Sorry. I know I was supposed to be quiet, the girl just startled me. And I'm also sorry I didn't interact with the others more, I- I wanted to, but it was... hard.”

There are tears in his eyes now, they only fall when she gently wipes a thumb over his cheek, purely for comfort. “Oh, babe... you're not in trouble for that, any of that. Sure, I'm not happy about the way you behaved in that moment, but for once I'm willing to let it slide because of circumstances. And concerning the second part, you absolutely do not need to worry about that.”

He nodds slightly and sniffles, trying to get himself under control again. When it doesn't really work, Marisha starts to shift their position until he can comfortably lean his head against her shoulders. “Poor puppy, getting all worked up over nothing,” she whispers, gently scratching his scalp as he melts against her. “I told you, no expectations for today except that you follow orders, which you did. I'm very proud of you for going at all, you were very brave,” she tells him.

The rest of the evening is spend with soft reassurances, gentle carresses and a lot of talking between the two of them, and at the end of it, Marisha is pretty sure that it won't have been their last time visiting that club. And especially not the last time they see those two women again.


End file.
